Hush, Little Baby
by Saya Moonshadow
Summary: "His name was Lewa, and he was my little brother." Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to Dirty Window. Somewhat sickfic.
1. Circle

**My brother convinced me to do a sequel thing to **_**Dirty Window**_**, my Lewa-centric fic. Yayz.**

**When the "la-la-la" part comes in, imagine it being sung to the tune of "Rosemary's Baby" by Fantômas. Really adds to the whole "ghost" setting. Haha.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow**_**. I tried to write them to fit with "Rosemary's Baby". I probably failed, too.**

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

**Hush Little Baby   
By: Saya Moonshadow   
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_Clear as rain falling in the dark   
Clear as the ice frozen round my heart."_

X x X

For years, Kano had wondered who the green Toa in the picture in Turaga Kopaka's hut was. Green, and laughing. Bright yellow eyes that jumped out at you.

And yet, hurt. Kano knew what it was like to not have a family - his parents had vanished when he was young, leaving him in the care of the Turaga. This green Toa had bright yellow eyes that smiled, and yet didn't at the same time.

He stood there before the picture hanging in the halls of Ko-Metru's biggest Knowledge Tower and kept his foster brother's hand clenched in his own tightly to prevent the five-year-old from running off. Lito squirmed uncomfortably, looking up at the portrait with him, but stayed silent for the majority of it.

"What'cha lookin' at?" he asked finally. Kano looked down at him, but said, "That picture there. See the green Toa?"

Lito nodded happily. "That's Toa Lewa, Turaga said!"

Kano nodded as well, although absently. "Yeah. Is it just me or does he look...sad to you?"

His little brother looked up at him. "He sad cuz he gots no family." His voice dropped a bit as he bit his lip. "Jus' like Kano."

Kano glared at him, and he fell silent. He'd forgotten again; family was a taboo subject for his foster brother. Kano didn't like to think of the parents who had abandoned him. Lito didn't either. They were bad people if they would just leave Kano alone like that...

The younger Matoran didn't have a family either, but it didn't matter. Kano wasn't his real brother, he knew, but it didn't matter. He was five, and the twelve-year-old Kano was as much a brother to him as anyone in his real family was. He squeezed his hand, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Kano smile at him. It made him smile too.

"_You admire him, huh?"_

He glanced back and his smile widened. "He's my big brother; 'course I do!"

The one who had spoken to him chuckled. _"That's good. Little brothers should be able to look up to their big brothers."_

"What are you looking at?" Kano's voice broke Lito out of his conversation. He gave his big brother another smile. "Him." He pointed. "He says hi, Kano!"

Kano raised one brow and gave his foster brother a weird look. "There's no one there."

Lito merely smiled again. He shivered as he felt the ghost's hand on his shoulder, Kano already having turned back to the picture. _"He can't see me, kiddo."_

"How come?"

"_You're special. He doesn't have the...awareness that you do." _the ghost replied. _"You see things other people can't. That's a rare gift. Not even with an Akaku can he see me. You're special."_

Lito didn't have to turn around to know his friend was gone. His eyes closed as he continued to hold Kano's hand, the ghost's soft singing echoing through the air.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

X x X

Kano awoke that night to the sound of his little brother's voice. Coming from the room next to his was Lito's voice, speaking softly. He couldn't hear what he was saying exactly, but he knew the tone. That was the tone he got when he was trying to console someone.

"Lito?" he croaked, opening his brother's door. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as he yawned. "What're you doing up so late?" To his surprise, Lito shushed him hurriedly. "He's cryin'." the little boy whispered, pointing right next to him. "Makin' him feel better."

"Who's crying?" Kano squinted into the darkness, but as far as he could tell, the only thing on the bed was Lito. Nothing and no one else. He suppressed another roll of the eyes. Delusional...

"He's cryin' cuz his big brother didn't want 'im." Lito explained. "It hurted real bad but he kept smilin' but then he got real sick an' his big brother didn't care."

"What happened to him?" Kano asked. He was used to Lito's little stories; in fact, he found several of them amusing. What was said next, though, was anything but amusing.

"He died." Lito said simply. "He got kicked outta Heaven the first time, but he went back an' they let 'im in the second time after he said bye-bye to his other brothers and sister. An' it really really hurts 'im cuz his big brother didn't say sorry for hurtin' 'im so much."

Kano blinked. "Who in Mata Nui's name are you talking to?!" This was getting out of hand. Little kids Lito's age shouldn't even know what death and dying IS. As his older brother and somewhat legal guardian, he had to put a stop to it!

"He didn't tell me 'is name." Lito replied. "He say it begins with a 'L' though. Just like mine. An' he's tall an' green an' has wings! An' his mask's like mine too!"

Kano sighed. "You sure like making up stories, don't you? You should be the island storyteller. I'll ask Turaga Kopaka about it tomorrow."

"'s not a story!" Lito said sharply. "It really happened!"

"So you're talking to the ghost of someone who died of heartbreak? Lito, you can't die of heartbreak; it's physically impossible. Ask anyone who knows anything about anatomy. And if he did, then he's weak. It's just how it goes. Bad things happen but you have to deal with it in your stride." He sat down next to him on the bed and ruffled his mask. "Now go to sleep, alright? It's late."

"Can't." Lito said. "He's still cryin'. An' he don't want ya to say Turaga Kopaka's name. It makes him sad."

Kano blinked. "What did the Turaga ever do to him? Turaga Kopaka's way too nice to make anyone cry!"

Lito shook his head despairingly, but climbed back under the covers and buried his head in his pillow. With another sigh, Kano gave him one last pat on the head and walked back to his own room.

Once he shut the door, he heard Lito's voice singing what sounded like a lullaby. However, the tune, despite the fact that it was obviously supposed to calm and lull, only made him uneasy.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

X x X

"_Something in the dark's watching me   
I can see him up there   
He's watching me and crying   
He's watching me and dying."_

X x X

**AN: Chapter One, complete...yay. Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na...**

**Meet my official Halloween fic. Maybe. I dunno. I usually tend to forget holidays until the day before and then freak out because I don't know what to do. And then I don't do anything. Lol.**


	2. Whispers In The Dark

**I like Halloween. It's great if you like running around in the dark and running the risk of getting run over by cars belonging to the parents of those children too lazy to walk when they go trick-or-treating. No respect, I say. -sighs- I think I'll be something cliché this year. A werewolf, most likely. Yeah, I'll be a werewolf! And if I can't find a costume...well, there's always my Mad March Hare costume for the school play that I'm doing...**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

**Hush Little Baby   
By: Saya Moonshadow   
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_Can you see him above me?   
His tears like rain upon me falling   
Falling, always falling."_

X x X

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

There was that odd singing again...the song that Lito had sung. The creepy lullaby that was more unsettling than soothing. Kano couldn't see who was singing it, but he could hear it. It was more than enough to scare him.

He ran across the black pool of water in front of him, his reflection gazing up at him, matching his movements perfectly. He stopped. Something was wrong with his reflection. For one thing, his eyes weren't red. His eyes were blue. And he wasn't grinning at the current point in time. There was no way he would grin right then, or even that evilly at all.

And...Lito! His brother's reflection was right next to his, even though Lito was nowhere in sight. Kano frowned as Lito's reflection shied away from his.

The frown turned to a scream of horror as his reflection grabbed up a knife out of nowhere and plunged it into the child's chest.

As he screamed, the water rose around him, sucking him downward like a giant drain. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't keep screaming even though he was terrified.

The voice kept singing throughout the entire thing, repeating the lullaby over and over again.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

"Help me!" Kano cried, his voice oddly distorted by the water, though the singing wasn't. "Help me!"

And suddenly, the water was gone, to be replaced by...nothing. There was a wet drop on his cheek, making him flinch, but when he looked up, he saw that it was only rain.

No...not rain. Tears.

The green thing hovering above him was too bright for him to make out any features, but the drops were coming from where its face should have been.

The tears continued to fall upon him as the voice kept on singing, now choked with sobs.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

"Who are you?" Kano called up to the green thing. "Did you save me?"

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

"Hello?!" he shouted. "Can you hear me?!"

The tears began to fall faster and harder than before. He blinked blearily up at the shape and gave a start. The shape itself was still too bright to see. But he could clearly see the smaller thing held in its arms.

Lito, fast asleep.

As he watched, the shining green thing turned and floated away, taking Lito with it. Its tears, however, stayed, falling onto him like rain. Kano shouted and ran after it, but the tears were coming down so hard now that they almost completely obscured his vision. The green thing and Lito were gone. Only the eerie song remained, still as loud and clear as ever.

Only this time, a new phrase was added.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...what have they done to his eyes?"_

There was quite a bit of red mixed in with the falling tears after that.

X x X

Kano was never happier to wake up in his life. He wiped at his eyes, finding them to be rather moist, to his annoyance. Quickly, in case anyone walked in, he rubbed furiously at his eyes, trying to wipe any evidence of his tears away.

Big kids didn't cry. It was something he had learned when he was young and had no family. It didn't matter if Lito cried; Lito was just a kid. But he, Kano, was twelve years old now. Much too old to be crying.

Lito! A bolt of fear struck his heart, and Kano leaped out of his bed, dashing as quick as he could to his brother's room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the five-year-old still in his bed, sleeping soundly. As usual, one arm was wrapped firmly around an old worn-out stuffed Kikanalo, and the thumb of his other hand was in his mouth. Kano smiled fondly; it was a habit he doubted Lito would ever grow out of.

He blinked as a flash of green momentarily ran across his vision, right above Lito's back. Nothing there. He must have been really tired to be seeing things...and no wonder. It was only 5 AM, after all. Much too early to be up.

Big yellow eyes watched him go, and the spirit breathed a sigh that might have been half regret, half relief. Turning his attention back to the sleeping child, his expression softened and he began to sing in a light, lilting voice.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

Malevolence pierced this room like a dagger. He could feel it, slowly seeping into him, tiring him out. It wasn't the child or the older brother, he could see that clearly. But they were the only two that ever came in here, so what was it?

His eyes fell upon the stuffed toy before dismissing it. Any evil spirit would know better than to choose such an obvious place. Even children would know if their toy was suddenly possessed. Especially children like Lito. Lito was sensitive enough to be able to not only see and hear him, but make contact with him as well. Not even Kazoku, the Toa of Fire and daughter of Turaga Tahu and Turaga Gali, had that kind of sensitivity to spirits.

Lito snuffled a bit, and the spirit's smile grew steadily gentler. He kept singing, repeating the tune over again as the child quieted down.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

X x X

Toa Kazoku wasn't surprised to see Kano of Ko-Metru come running up to her as she heaved the broken pieces of a collapsed Knowledge Tower support beam away. He always did have a knack for finding her. Not that she minded, of course - Kano was one of her favorite people on the island.

Her name meant "family" in the ancient language. And Kano was as special to her as he would have been if he really were her little brother.

"Hi, Kano, what's up?" she asked, pausing in her work for a minute and wiping her sweating brow. Despite the cold, she still managed to sweat. She chuckled at the thought as Kano replied, "I need your help."

His serious demeanor never failed to amuse her, either. Chuckling again, the Toa of Fire patted his head. "What's the trouble?"

"It's my brother," he explained. "He's seeing things, and I want you to make him stop."

Kazoku frowned, golden eyes narrowed a tad. "If Lito's seeing things, there's nothing I can really do about it, Kano. I'm not a therapist, you know, and if it's a spirit...well, that's something different. I can see them, but I can't do anything about them." Seeing Kano's eyes go wide with alarm, she quickly added, "Not that spirits are bad, Kano - I honestly haven't seen a bad one on this island yet and I'm a thousand years old. Talk to Turaga Kopaka about it. He'll be able to help. Or maybe even my mother, she's real good at that kind of stuff."

Kano thanked her and scooted off, although he was slightly disappointed. He admired the Toa of Fire very much, and as such, wasn't very happy about the fact that she had no way to help other than pointing him towards the eccentric Turaga of Ice.

But then again, she WAS right. Spirits were radically different from what she usually dealt with - rogue Rahi, the usual vagrants around the various Metru, and the rare invasion. Physical things. Spirits were another thing entirely. And Kazoku, powerful though she was, was no medium.

X x X

As usual, he found the Turaga of Ice in the highest observatory, in the tallest Knowledge Tower.

Once again, however, he was disappointed. Turaga Kopaka was very busy; something was wrong with the stars. "Someone is in danger," he murmured, almost as if Kano were no there. "But who...?"

"Turaga?"

"Hm?" Kopaka looked up and smiled when he saw who it was. "Ah, Kano! Welcome. What can I do for you?"

Kano explained his problem, leaving out what Lito had told him the night before. The fanciful dealings of a five-year-old were of no use to the Turaga, he was certain. He also left out his dream. He didn't want to admit it, but it had scared him deeply.

"Hmmm..." Turaga Kopaka frowned and looked down at the star chart he had been studying. "Interesting. And you believe these are just hallucinations?"

"Or an imaginary friend, or whatever." Kano said exasperatedly. "The point is, it's not good for him. It's keepin' him up and making him all weird. I need to get him to stop, but I don't know how. So how do I do it? Toa Kazoku said to ask you."

Kopaka sighed. "It's just a phase, Kano. All small children go through it; I myself had an imaginary friend that I swore was real when I was about his age. It's natural, nothing to worry about. Just leave him be and it'll be alright. Alright?"

"Alright." Kano grudgingly conceded. For now. Without another word, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Kopaka to continue poring over the star charts and telescopes.

The Turaga's advice hadn't been helpful at all. Just leave Lito alone to go nuts among all these hallucinations? Not likely! He was GOING to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took!

By the time he got back to his small house, Lito was awake and bouncing up and down on his bed like he always did while he waited for Kano to come and get him in the mornings. As soon as Kano walked in the door, the little boy practically bounced right off the bed, face wreathed in smiles, as eager as a puppy for attention.

Kano smiled, then froze, an icy feeling gripping his heart. Then, the feeling passed, and he shook his head. Where had that come from? That sudden sense of danger?

Lito put an end to his musings for the moment, however, by jumping off his bed and crashing headlong into him, sending him to the floor. "Kano! Kano! Kano! Kano! Kano!" he yelled as Kano coughed, trying to regain his breath.

"Good morning to you too, Lito." he muttered, pushing his brother off of him lightly. Lito's smile widened. "I talked to him again!" he said. "He said he was feeling a bit better, and ya know why?"

"Why?"

"Cuz when he singed, I singed with him an' he said I did good! An' then he picked me up an' we were flyin' an' then GUESS WHAT!"

"What?" Kano asked curiously. Could it be?

"We saw YOU!" Lito continued, still oblivious to Kano's worries. "He was cryin' so I dunno if you saw us or not...but then I fell asleep so I couldn't wave to ya." He grinned sheepishly, then frowned quizzically upon seeing his brother's face. "Kano? Are ya OK?"

That the exact same as HIS dream had been. "Lito..." he said slowly, "Was this a dream you had?"

Lito's frown deepened. "I think so...but I dunno. Why?"

"No reason," Kano mumbled. The ice reached out and gripped his heart again, only this time he was sure he heard something whispering.

"_What have they done to his eyes?"_

He peered at Lito's eyes, bright and yellow and shining. Nothing wrong with them, that was for sure...

This time, the feeling of danger didn't pass until he and Lito had left the room to go get some breakfast, Lito having made his bed and placed his stuffed Kikanalo tenderly upon his pillow.

And even though he was a Ko-Matoran and they were inside the whole time, Kano couldn't stop shivering.

X x X

"_He's still above me, always crying   
Tears like rain, and now he's dying   
I try not to look when he cries   
But what have they done to my eyes?"_

X x X

**AN: Plot thickens. Kazoku makes an appearance. I always manage to squeeze her in somewhere XD She's my TahuGali daughter, and I ADORE her. X3 Heheh.**

**Review or I'll sic my plot bunnies on you!**


	3. Gently

**So, who's up for Halloween? I decided I'm going to sit out on the lawn with a super soaker and say YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN while my brother terrorizes the neighborhood in his **_**Avatar: The Last Airbender**_** costume.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

_**(do u NEED a disclaimer???? they already kno ur not cool enough to own jack shit...)**_

**(oh shut up.)**

**Hush Little Baby   
By: Saya Moonshadow   
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_This feeling of dread within me grows  
It's dark and cold wherever he goes   
I have to run as my name he calls   
But before I can start, the darkness falls."_

X x X

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

Kano was dreaming again, and he knew it. Why else would he be surrounded by utter blackness that seemed to have no end? No floor that he could see either; he simply seemed to float on the darkness. And why else would he be hearing disembodied singing?

He decided to cooperate for now and stepped forward. He kept walking and walking and walking for what seemed to be an absolute age before he came across someone he knew well.

"Lito?" he asked, stepping up to the child on the ground. Lito was sitting with his back to him, head bowed. He didn't seem to have heard. "Lito? Are you OK?" Kano placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder and turned him around.

Something dark red fell onto his hand, and he looked down at it, bringing it to eye level for closer inspection. His Akaku was not a true Great Mask, its power was very limited, but it allowed for a good enough look at the liquid's chemical make up for him to know what it was.

_Blood._

He looked down at Lito, and the words he was about to say died in his throat, replaced by a scream of horror. He backed up, hands clasped over his mouth in an attempt to keep the scream in, but no good.

Dark red blood seeped from behind Lito's tightly closed eyes, dripping down his face like tears. As Kano watched, it continued to roll down his face, falling to the ground to form a grotesque puddle.

A hand descended upon his own shoulder, and he looked up, wild-eyed, to see the same glowing green thing that had taken Lito in his last dream. The features were clearer now, but still hard to make out. He could see a pair of yellow eyes, as big and clear as Lito's should have been, though. Those eyes were blurred with fear now, and Kano watched the green being. A pair of shining wings folded and unfolded as if in agitation on its back.

"What happened to him?!" Kano shouted, hoping it would know the answer - and possibly a cure. "Save him! Please!"

The green thing answered with a question of its own. _"What have they done to his eyes?"_

As if in response, Lito's eyes opened. And Kano screamed.

X x X

"Kano! Kano, wake up!"

Kano was woken up by someone shaking him hard and he looked up at Toa Kazoku, who was leaning over him, face stamped with worry. Without warning, he shot up and hugged her hard, burying his face in her neck. She returned the hug without being asked, and stroked his back as he sobbed.

"Kano, what's wrong? Did something happen?" she asked.

"N...no. I just had a...b-bad dream," he muttered, sniffling and trying to wipe his eyes.

Eyes! Lito's eyes! Bloody, dripping eyes of fire!

"Lito!" He tore away from the Toa of Fire and dashed towards his brother's room, Kazoku hot on his heels. He tore open the door and ran to Lito's bed, jumping on it and waking the child up. Lito sat up, yawning, and frowned.

"Kano--?"

"Let me see your eyes!" Kano demanded, grabbing him by the shoulders. "NOW!"

Terrified into compliance, Lito opened his eyes wide, staring at his older brother, who slumped down in relief. "K-Kano?" he asked, feeling the tears coming again. "Was I bad?"

To his surprise, Kano simply pulled him into a huge hug as he had done with Kazoku only moments earlier, holding him tightly. A sob of relief choked out of him, and Lito was left more confused than ever.

"Kano, what on Metru Nui is going ON?" Kazoku asked angrily. She stood slightly in the doorway, hands on her hips, glaring at him. Kano pulled away from his brother and looked at her with a sigh. "Nothing, Toa..."

"That's not nothing," she responded and crossed the room, sitting beside him on the bed. "What's the matter with you? First you scream and wake the whole Metru up, and now you scare the living daylights out of Lito and demand to see his eyes? Mata Nui, you're acting so weird lately!"

Kano didn't look at her as he said, "...just a bad dream."

Kazoku's face softened. "Is that all this is about?" She pulled both brothers into a hug. "Kano, there's nothing for you to worry about. I won't let anything happen to either of you, alright? Lito's safe, I promise. So are you."

He didn't answer except to nod. Once she was sure that he was OK, Kazoku turned her attention to Lito, who looked ready to start crying any minute now. "Now then, didja hear that, Lito? Kano just had a bad dream and was worried about you. Isn't that nice of him? He didn't mean to scare you, right Kano?"

"Y-yeah." Kano mumbled. "S-sorry, Lito."

Lito wiped his eyes and smiled. "So you like my eyes again?"

"What?" Kano gave him an odd look.

"You didn't like my eyes so ya made me look at you, but now you like 'em again, right?"

Kano sighed. Clueless... "Yes Lito. I like your eyes a lot."

Lito's smile widened. "Good! Cuz I like your eyes too."

Kazoku chuckled and got up. "Alright, now that that's taken care of, back to bed with you two. It's 1 AM."

She walked Kano back to his room after tucking Lito in again, holding the door open for the twelve-year-old. "Oh, and Kano?"

"Yeah?" He turned to look at her.

"Next time you have a bad dream, please find a better way to let me know than screaming that loud." she said. "I thought someone was dying, the way you screamed."

He gave a wry smile. "I'll try. G'night Toa Kazoku."

"Good night, Kano."

She closed the door, then went to go check on Lito again. She smiled as she saw that he was already asleep, then frowned. Was it just her, or was it really cold in here? She was shivering in any case, and raised her body temperature. No, that didn't work either. She was still shivering.

Something rustled in the room, and she immediately directed her gaze to the culprit with a start. The stuffed Kikanalo that Lito slept with every night had fallen onto the ground. Kazoku mentally reprimanded herself. It was just a toy, nothing to be worried about. Some Toa she was, getting nervous because it was cold...

The toy's eyes were glinting oddly in the dim glow from Lito's nightlight, she noticed. A bit too brightly. And was it just her, or was that glint oddly...evil?

She shook her head and picked it up, turning it over in her hand. Just a regular stuffed toy, nothing to worry about. But since when did Kikanalo have such evil grins? Something was wrong, she could feel her head getting lighter and a voice saying, _"Give me your eyes."_

"They're mine," she muttered, staring at it. "They're mine, you can't have 'em."

Fog was starting to cloud her vision now, and her eyes began to sting. She rubbed at them with her other hand, but the stinging continued. It felt like someone was trying to tug them out, almost...

"Ahhhn...Toa Kazoku?"

Kazoku dropped the stuffed Kikanalo with a shock as Lito's voice broke through the fog swimming across her vision. Immediately, it cleared and she blinked in the dim light. Lito was sitting up in bed, yawning and looking at her oddly. "Are you OK?"

"Uh, yes. Just checking on you." She smiled winningly, and Lito smiled back. "OK. Um, can you gimme my Kikanalo? It fell."

She picked it up and looked closely at it again. Well, there was nothing wrong with it now, that was for sure. It was just a regular stuffed toy, with those big red beads for eyes and falling apart slightly from all the affection lavished upon it by its owner. Just like any other stuffed toy on the island. She must be really tired to be hallucinating like that...

"Here you go." She handed it to him, and he took it with a happy squeal, immediately burrowing under the covers with it clutched tightly in his arms. "Sweet dreams, Toa!"

"Sweet dreams," she replied, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Her eyes still stung slightly as she made her way back to the room being loaned to her by the Matoran of Ko-Metru for her stay there, while she continued to help fix the broken down part of a Knowledge Tower. Out of curiousity, she made her way to the mirror in the corner and peered at them closely. A bit raw and red, but that was no surprise. She was so tired; it WAS just after midnight, after all...

After splashing some cold water on her face, which helped the stinging a bit, she collapsed onto the bed and slept.

X x X

The next day, Kano led Lito outside by the hand, both yawning loudly. Quickly, they sought out the nearest open store that sold food and purchased enough to probably keep them going all day without another meal.

Kano chuckled as his brother wolfed down the three Blizzard Apples he had been given, and continued eating his own food. They sat back, watching the Metru get itself going for the day, scholars and others alike walking to their respective jobs.

After a few minutes, Kazoku emerged from the same building that they themselves had come from, smiling in the sunlight. Her eyes were rather red and a tad raw, Kano thought as she squinted at them. "Hi, Toa Kazoku. Are your eyes OK?"

"They're fine, I'm just tired," Kazoku smiled. "Just wish they'd stop stinging though. I'll go see my mother about it later though. Work to be done now, eh?"

He nodded agreeing, and she set off to the the site of the broken down Knowledge Tower for another day of helping the building teams clearing rubble away so a new Tower could be grown.

"I don't think I'd wanna be a Toa." Kano remarked once she was out of earshot. "She never gets any rest."

Lito shrugged, still happily munching on his food. "She does a good job."

"I never said she didn't."

Lito shrugged, rubbing at his eyes. They, too, looked slightly red, Kano noticed with a chill, remembering his dream. "Hey, your eyes aren't looking too good either, kiddo. Something happen to 'em?"

"No." Lito said, rubbing at them some more. Then, "Hey Kano, were you in my room last night?"

"After me and Kazoku came in?"

"Yeah."

"No, I was in bed after that. Why?"

"Cuz," Lito said, now rubbing his eyes furiously, "I thought I heard ya telling me to give you my eyes."

Kano shivered, though he hardly knew why. "Why would I want your eyes? In case you haven't noticed, I've got a perfectly good pair myself."

"Dunno." Lito replied. "It was a dream."

Again, his brother shivered. "Dreams are weird, Lito. Anything can happen in dreams. It's nothing to worry about, just like Toa Kazoku said."

"OK." They lapsed into silence, finishing their breakfast, Lito still rubbing his eyes every couple of seconds.

X x X

"_Darkness around me, forcing me down   
I can't breathe, I'm sinking to the underground   
I try to scream but I can't even cry  
Oh God I think I'm going to die."_

X x X

**AN: Halloween is less than a week away, yahoo! I can't wait for it be here X3 Yes, I'm one of those nerdy kids who loves Halloween no matter how old I get. And despite tradition, some of those little kids really ARE adorable with their costumes. It's the ones that demand candy without even saying "trick or treat" that annoy me. Ahaha.**

**This is getting to be a lot odder than I thought it would...yikes. Hm, some more weird things happen, and Kazoku is dragged in. You're free to come to your own conclusions right now, because this is still in progress XD**

**I just finished **_**John Carpenter's Halloween**_**. Whatever. **_**Halloween**_** was so bad that it was good. But seriously - Michael was stabbed TWICE, shot FOUR TIMES, and then FELL OUT OF A WINDOW, and he STILL managed to get away! Dude, W-T-F. And now I'm going to try the dig **_**The Exorcist **_**out of our piles of old movies, because that's one heck of a good movie! XD**

**Review please!**


	4. Blood Turned To Tears

**I wasn't quite sure what I was doing when I was writing this chapter. I haven't slept for a few days, and I'm running off of pure nervous energy and caffeine right now, so I apologize if it's a little weird.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

_**(once again...pointless disclaimer!!!!)**_

**(you're fired.)**

**Hush Little Baby   
By: Saya Moonshadow   
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_I cannot see and I cannot scream   
Is this or is it not just some bad dream?   
Upon my face I can feel his tears   
But I can't see enough to face his fears."_

X x X

The next day, Kazoku's eyes were burning enough that she forsook her work and went to see her mother, the famous Turaga Gali of Ga-Metru. By now, her eyes were raw red and streaming with tears, as though she were trapped in a smoky building. She wiped fervently at her eyes, but Gali quickly slapped her hands away, her face deadly serious.

"And this only started two nights ago?" she demanded.

Kazoku nodded. "Yeah. I was in Lito's room, looking at this funny toy of his, and my eyes just started hurting." She frowned. "No matter what I do, it won't stop, Mother. What do I do?"

"You can start by sitting down and letting me take a better look." her mother replied, and in spite of the situation, Kazoku grinned and took a seat. Gali leaned in close, using her Akaku to peer at her daughter's eyes and discern the problem.

After a few minutes, she shook her head. "I can't see anything wrong, Kazoku. Are you sure you're not just getting sick? It IS rather cold in Ko-Metru."

"Mother, I think I'd know whether I got a cold or not," Kazoku huffed, feeling rather put out. She grimaced, realizing something. "So there's nothing you can do?"

Gali shook her head sadly. "If I can't see the problem, I can't diagnose it. I'm sorry, sweetie, but there really ISN'T anything I can do."

Her daughter shrugged, and she could tell that she was trying to look unaffected. "OK then. I'll just go get some sleep, I guess. Never know, it just might do the trick."

Gali bit her lip, then said, "Kazoku, tell me again what you were doing when this started?"

Kazoku raised a brow, wiping at her streaming eyes again, but said, "I told you - I was in Lito's room, looking at this little toy of his." A slight frown crossed her face as she remembered. "And then I started getting dizzy...and someone told me to give them my eyes...but I was probably dreaming, right?"

She regretted sharing this instantly at the horrified look on her mother's face. "Mother, don't worry about it! I'm a Toa, I can handle it." She grinned roguishly in an attempt to to cheer her up.

"I want to see that toy." Gali said. "If I'm right, and I think I am, it may have something to do with this."

"Suit yourself." Kazoku said goodbye and left, still rubbing at her smarting eyes. She had better get to work now - she was over an hour late.

X x X

It wasn't to be. Upon walking into Ko-Metru, the stinging became a sudden burn, and she gave a cry of pain as her vision went white suddenly. Matoran dropped what they were doing and flocked to her, all crying out to know the problem.

Turaga Kopaka was summoned, and Kazoku was hurried into the nearest Knowledge Tower's sickbay.

Kopaka frowned as he bent over his niece's body, gazing straight into her eyes with surprise. "What happened?"

Kazoku's only answer was a moan of pain. "My eyes..."

He gave a start of shock. Her eyes, once bright golden yellow, were now pure white, like the snow that forever sat upon the mountain. "I can't see," she went on, rubbing at them. He quickly slapped her hands away much in the manner her mother had done only a little while earlier and took a closer look at them.

Gali usually had no need to use the Akaku; her skills with it were limited at best. But he, Kopaka, had always had it, and he used it more than anyone on the island. What he saw shocked him to the core.

Her eyes were suffused with blood. It was this enormous amount of blood that was causing this sudden blindness, that was causing the stinging pain to increase with each passing hour.

"We have to bring the swelling down!" he snapped at the nearest guard. "Get me ice - lots of it! NOW!"

The guard saluted and ran to get the ice the Turaga had ordered.

"Turaga, what's going--" Kano burst through the door, dragging Lito by the hand. Clutched in Lito's other hand was a stuffed Kikanalo. The older Matoran gasped at the sight of the Fire Toa on the stark white sheets, moaning in pain and clutching at her pure white eyes. He turned to Kopaka, shock written all over his face. "What's happened to her? Why's she like that?"

Kopaka took his gently by the shoulders, frowning sternly but gently. "Toa Kazoku's just a little sick, is all. Nothing to worry about. Just go play now, Kano, I'm busy."

Lito looked worried. "Izzit her eyes?" he asked. Kopaka noticed with a start that his eyes too looked rather battered. "My eyes hurt too. Will I get like that?"

The Turaga shook his head. "I doubt it, but it's possible." He ignored the glare Kano was sending his way and continued to try to shoo them out. "Now, Toa Kazoku needs her rest, so you have to--"

Kazoku gave a scream just then, writhing in agony. Dark red liquid - _blood,_ Kano's mind shrieked - now leaked from her blind eyes in place of the tears that had been there before. The Fire Toa kept screaming, one long never ending note of pain that made him want to cover his ears.

"Toa!" Lito dropped his toy and ran to her, attempting to scramble onto the bed with her, but it was too high for him and he failed. "Toa! Are you alright?!"

Hearing his voice, Kazoku managed to calm down somewhat, her natural protective instincts overruling the pain for a second. She couldn't, however, suppress the whimper in her voice as she moaned, "Litoooooo..."

She couldn't help it. The pain redoubled, and her screams started up again. As she screamed, Lito began to cry as well, terrified.

Kano stood stock still, his dream running through his head. Lito's tightly shut eyes, leaking blood instead of tears. Lito's eyes opening, a horrific sight he never wanted to see again...

Toa Kazoku's eyes were just like that right now, bright white and veined with red, blood welling in them in a macabre imitation of tears. He tried to walk to her, to comfort her, but his left foot hit something on the floor.

It was Lito's stuffed Kikanalo. The evil, hideous grin Kazoku had noticed two nights ago was on its face now, and it was one of the scariest things Kano had ever seen. He stared in shock as he realized another thing: the eyes, which were supposed to be red beads, were now a bright, golden yellow.

The exact same color as Toa Kazoku's eyes.

With a cry, he grabbed it up and ripped its head off, stuffing flying everywhere.

Immediately, Kazoku's screams stopped, replaced with harsh, ragged breathing. Kopaka stooped over her, noticing that she seemed to have passed out. Whether this was from pain or what Kano had just done, he didn't know. Both his and Lito's gazes were now fixed firmly on the Ko-Matoran, who was standing with the two fragments of Lito's stuffed toy in his hands, panting.

"Kano, what did you just do?" he asked.

Kano dropped the halves of the Kikanalo and backed up to the wall, staring at it with horror. Kopaka's eyes were drawn to it, and he felt a thrill of disgust. The stuffing, which should have been white, was making red patches on the floor. More blood.

"Mata Nui, that thing was ALIVE." he breathed, prodding the head with his staff. "And it - it was doing - SOMETHING - to Toa Kazoku." He turned to Lito, feeling the old coldness begin to steal over him. "Lito, did you know about this?"

Lito's face crumpled, then he began to cry in earnest. Immediately, Kopaka's stern face dropped and he patted the child on the head as gently as he could. "Don't cry, Lito, I didn't mean to sound like that. But I need to know - did you or did you not know about this?"

"Well, OBVIOUSLY!" Kano said angrily, glaring at him. "How COULD he have known? And if he had, he wouldn't have kept it, right Lito?"

Lito sniffled, wiping his eyes, and nodded. "Not woulda kept it."

Kano smiled, drawing him into his arms and sending another glare the Turaga's way at the same time. "See! He didn't mean anything!" He frowned down at his brother. "Then again, Lito, why DID you bring that thing here? I've never seen it leave your room before."

"Cuz, the ghost said I had to!" Lito replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "He said I hadda bring it, an' it would help Toa Kazoku get better!"

"Ghost?" Turaga Kopaka looked from one brother to the next, frowning suspiciously. "What ghost?"

Lito said impatiently. "The ghost I've been tryin' ta tell Kano about for tha past three days! But Kano don't believe me."

"And...does this...ghost talk to you often?"

The child nodded. "Oh yes. He always talking to me. And he sings to me a lot too."

Kopaka shivered, remembering the conversation he and Kano had had only a few days before. So Lito really WAS seeing something. "And does this ghost of yours have a name?"

Lito frowned. "He does but he doesn't tell me it."

"Then do you know what he looks like?"

That, Lito could answer, and he did. "Yeah! He's tall an' green, and he's got big yellow eyes, jus' like me!"

Kopaka smiled, but he got the feeling that the description of the ghost was awfully familiar. "And you say he talks to you often?"

"Mhm! He smiles a lot, and he makes me laugh. But he gets sad whenever I talk 'bout Kano. He says it's cuz he had a big brother once, an' his big brother didn't want him, even when he was dying."

Kopaka's eyes widened in shock as his breath caught. "Mata Nui." His heart was beating rather fast, painfully, and he clutched at it, fighting for breath. It was almost as if he had been punched in the gut.

"Turaga, what's wrong?" Kano asked. "Do you know this ghost thing?"

The Turaga's voice audibly shook as he replied. "Yes. I did once. Many, many years ago, way before either of you were born."

"So who was it?" The Matoran sounded impatient now.

Kopaka put one hand on the doorframe as he turned to leave, and when he looked back at them, Kano wished he hadn't.

"His name was Lewa, and he was my little brother."

And then he was gone before anything else could be said.

X x X

"_He tells me that it's all his fault   
He was the one who made the world halt   
He was never strong enough and he never rose above   
And there was no one to ever show him love."_

X x X

**AN: Yar. It's not quite over yet, not by a long shot. Mwahaha.**

**In the poem, it's mostly Lito talking. Kopaka knows the ghost. ZOMG.**

**Review please!**

**EDIT: I think I've jinxed myself with this story. My eyes are BURNING right now. And they're RED and they HURT and they're WATERING and EW.**


	5. Fear

**Update no Jutsu!**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

_**(Alngwiugw78rh8nekie28984!!!!!)**_

**(YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!)**

**Hush Little Baby   
By: Saya Moonshadow   
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_He'll never forget the day his heart cleft in twain   
The day he was crowned the King of Pain   
A smile so fake, but he wore it anyway   
And he's still wearing it to this very day."_

X x X

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

When Kano tore the head off of his brother's toy, he thought he was doing a favor for their quest to save Toa Kazoku's eyes. And indeed he did, for her eyes were indeed saved. A blind Toa, a Toa who is constantly in excruciating pain, is almost no good, after all.

But spirits don't rest easy, especially not wicked ones like the one who had been resting within Lito's favorite toy (speaking of which, he had to go buy him a new one). Lito did love those Kikanalo, after all, and the fact that his Kikanalo-shaped toy had housed a dangerous spirit did nothing to daunt his love for the species. But Kano decided to wait a bit to buy it. Wait until things had settled down, at least.

Or at least he found out just WHAT was going ON.

But again with the singing. "Lito, shut up," he snapped irritably as he prepared his little brother for bed. "I've had enough of that song, what with you AND that green freak singing it all the time."

Lito looked highly offended at this and rubbed at his sore eyes. Even after the spirit had been ousted, his eyes continued to hurt. But, being Lito, he wasn't too concerned. Kano said that the spirit was gone, so it made sense that his eyes would go back to normal soon too, just like Toa Kazoku's. Hers were still a bit raw and red, after all. But they were on the mend.

"But he LIKES it," he said reproachfully, allowing Kano to tuck him in.

"I don't care." Kano said. "Just stop it, alright? It's making me nervous."

"K." And Lito shut up. Kano suppressed a sigh of relief and patted his head, smiling a little. "Alright, time for bed. We'll see what Turaga has to say in the morning, yeah? About your ghost thing."

"Turaga says his name's Lewa," Lito said. "Jus' like in the picture!"

Kano gave a start. That's right...that was where he'd heard the name before! The picture on the wall of the tallest Knowledge Tower! The one with Turaga Kopaka as a Toa! The green one was Toa Lewa, he knew. The one who was smiling but not at the same time.

If so...what could Turaga Kopaka have POSSIBLY done to drive someone to die of heartbreak?

Was it even possible to die of heartbreak?

For years, Kano had lived by the rule that _the strong do not cry_. He couldn't remember the last time he had really and truly cried. When he was little and just learning that not having parents was not normal, he had cried. But then came a time when there was no one to help him, and he had to wipe his own tears and get on with his life. Since getting Lito three years ago, that was what his life revolved around: his little brother.

He loved Lito, and always tried to protect him.

Turaga Kopaka spoke fondly of his fellow Turaga, so he still found it hard to believe that he of all people had a hand in the death of someone who was not evil or villainous.

He stood up and tucked Lito into bed, still smiling a bit. "Goodnight, Lito."

"Night, Kano!" Lito chirped, and burrowed under his covers, closing his eyes.

Kano's smile widened as he left the room, dimming the lightstones as he went. Hopefully, he would be able to sleep without dreaming tonight...he wanted to be in top shape to question the Turaga about Toa Lewa tomorrow.

X x X

Someone was crying.

Lito knew immediately who it was. He abruptly sat up in his bed, blinking as his eyes accustomed to the darkness. "Toa Lewa? Are you OK?"

The crying softened down to quiet sobs. Lito frowned. Everyone was always trying to protect him; couldn't they see that at five he was a big kid now? He didn't need so much protection anymore!

"_No."_ Lewa said. The air shimmered, and Lito could see him, green and softly shining, with large wings that shivered in time to the sobs racking his body. _"My heart hurts."_

Lito rubbed his eyes, which still hurt a bit, and said, "Is there medicine for it?"

Lewa laughed shakily. _"No. There's no such thing as medicine for the heart, Lito. It'll always hurt."_

"Well, maybe my heart doesn't hurt, but my eyes do," Lito said, still rubbing them. Lewa reached for him, but his hands passed right through him. With a sigh, the Toa of Air withdrew his hands and settled for merely peering straight at him. _"I am sorry to hear that."_

Lito shrugged. "It's not your fault." He yawned. "I'm kinda tired...gonna go to sleep now."

"_If you sleep, you will not wake."_

He stiffened at that, frowning confusedly. "Why? I gotta wake up, Kano needs me!"

Lewa's eyes filled with tears, but they did not fall. _"I thought the same thing about my brother. I paid for that mistake with my life."_

Lito shivered, but did his best to ignore it. Within a trice, his tired eyes had closed, and he was asleep. As he slept, tears began to course from underneath his eyelids.

The Toa of Air sighed softly, still looking down at the child's form. _"Your eyes will never open again...what have they done to your eyes?"_

Green light shimmered, and Lewa was gone.

X x X

As Kano had feared, he was dreaming again.

This time, he was in the cold; a blizzard was raging around him. He recognized this place: it was where his parents had left him. His first real conscious memory. He shivered, curling into a ball, feeling the tears leaking from his eyes freezing as they came. He was small and weak: only four years old again.

It was so cold...

Where were his parents? Had they really just abandoned him? Why didn't they want him? Orphans were rare in Metru Nui, and he just happened to be one of the unlucky ones that were orphaned at a young age.

"Mom...Dad..." he called out weakly, but there was no answer except for howling wind.

He pulled himself to his feet, wrapping his arms tightly around himself for warmth, and staggered off, shivering. He coughed; he couldn't seem to breathe properly. Mom was always saying that staying out in the cold for too long would get you sick...

There was a door in front of him. Kano didn't know why, but he suddenly felt taller, older. Back to his twelve-year-old self again. He could think clearly now, and was a little less cold than before. Without thinking, he grasped the doorknob and swung it open, stepping through it and closing the door.

It disappeared behind him, leaving all traces of that cold, dark world behind.

He was now in Lito's room. He recognized it; all the toys scattered about, the green bed against the wall. And most important of all...

"Lito?"

He shook the sleeping child's shoulder, but Lito didn't so much as snuffle, like he normally would. Kano felt his blood began to run cold. "Lito?" he said again, and shook him harder. Lito's head flopped to the other side, but there was no conscious reaction.

He wet his fingers and held them near Lito's mouth.

Nothing.

If Kano had been cold before, that was nothing compared to how he felt now. He backed away from the bed, clutching at his heart, which was thumping rather painfully in his chest.

A flash of light, and suddenly, Turaga Kopaka, no, TOA Kopaka kneeled at his feet. Sobs racked his body, and his face was buried in his hands. Lito's room faded away - although Lito himself didn't - and they were surrounded by blackness.

"_Stop crying."_ The voice came from nowhere; Kano couldn't place exactly where it came from. Perhaps there was no source. At least none that he could identify.

"I can't." Kopaka's voice sounded weak, broken by crying. "My heart is breaking."

"_No it's not."_

Kopaka looked up, tears streaking his mask, shock registering in his eyes. His whole body trembled from the force of his grief.

The voice went on; a note of distinct amusement could now be heard in its tone.

"_You have to have a heart for it to break."_

"STOP IT!" Kano shouted, watching his Turaga's face crumple, hearing the sobs resume, watching the shaking increase. "Stop it! You're hurting him!"

"_Heartless you always were, Kopaka Nuva, but now that heartlessness has cost you that which you most held dear. Lewa is dead, and it's all your fault."_

"No...no..." Kopaka whispered. "I...it can't be...I didn't...I didn't mean..." He took a deep, shuddering breath. Clutched in his hand, Kano noticed, was the picture of the seven Toa together. "Mata Nui..."

"_There is no such thing."_

"If you can hear me..."

"_He can't."_

"Please..."

"_You have no right to request any favors."_

"Give me another chance..."

"_Another chance?"_ The voice was amused now. Very much amused indeed. _"Another chance for what? To torture and kill another innocent soul through heartbreak? I don't think so."_

"No..." Kopaka whispered. "I want...I want Lewa back...please..."

"_He will never come back. He is dead."_ said the voice. _"However...there COULD be another..."_ Kopaka looked up, hope dancing in his eyes. _"But you shall not have the chance to repeat your actions. You will not be his caretaker, merely in the background, watching the consequences of your failure."_ The voice rose steadily, booming all around them. _"A thousand years from now, there shall be two boys, as much like you and Lewa as clones. However, the older boy shall not repeat your mistake, and you will watch, every day, as their bond strengthens into that which you will never have."_

"What are their names?" Kopaka breathed.

Silence.

And finally, the voice spoke again.

"_Their names will be Kano and Lito."_

And at that moment, Lito opened his eyes.

X x X

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Kano was awoken by a voice screaming - his own, he realized with annoyance. Even more annoyingly, he found he was crying again, and wiped his face hurriedly. Thankfully, no one seemed to have heard his scream, else they would have already been banging down his door.

Lito! Lito's eyes!

And what had the voice said? But that was just a dream; weird things happened in dreams all the time. But all the same, he wanted to just make sure.

He padded out of bed, and went to his brother's room, edging the door open. "Lito?" he called.

His eyes widened in horror at the sight before him.

Lito was gone, and there was a small dark pool of something on his pillow.

X x X

"_In my dreams each night now he sings   
He protects me from nightmares and all these other things  
But he always sings the same thing and sometimes he cries,   
'What have they done to your eyes?'"_

X x X

**AN: Wow, that only took two months...um...**

**Review, please?**


	6. Franetic Amnesic

**Attempting to write...NOW.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

_**(your rhyming sucks)**_

**(Oh bite me.)**

**Hush Little Baby   
By: Saya Moonshadow   
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_Apologies mean nothing, and we both know it's true   
They are worthless, so let me say this to you:   
Don't let your family go, and never make them cry   
Someday they'll be gone, and you'll never know why."_

X x X

For a moment, Kano just stood there, shocked out of his mind. And then he was off, screaming out things he didn't understand. He tore out of his and Lito's house, and through the streets, still screaming, until he collapsed, hoarse and gasping for breath, at the feet of Turaga Kopaka.

The old Turaga took in the Matoran's flushed face, wide open yet unseeing eyes, and panicked expression, and shook his head, then grasped Kano by the arm and hauled him up.

A few minutes later found the Matoran in the Turaga's own hut, sitting on the small couch and a warm mug in his hands. Kopaka sat next to him silently, not talking. He knew eventually the shock would wear off and Kano would be able to speak again. Until then, he just had to be patient.

It took perhaps a full forty-five minutes for Kano to recover enough to start babbling out what had happened, from his dream to waking up and finding Lito gone and in his place, a pool of what strongly looked like blood. Throughout all this, Kopaka was silent, merely staring at the floor. After he was done babbling, Kano took a deep breath and shuddered, then looked at the Turaga.

"What do I do?" he asked in a quavering voice, tears coming to his eyes. "Lito's all I've got, Turaga...I can't just leave him--"

"It might be too late." Kopaka replied, still not looking at him.

Kano was shocked into silence again, but not for long. Anger replaced the surprise, and he fell into it gladly, anything for some sort of drive to save Lito! "What?!" he screamed. "Too late? It CAN'T be too late!" He grabbed the old Turaga by the shoulders and shook him. "Tell me how to save him!" he shouted. "Tell me!"

Kopaka looked at him now, and he gasped, releasing him as though he'd been burned.

"_To what? What do you have to do?!"_

_The green Toa on the bed, blood pouring in a steady river from his mouth, closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them up again. Though glazed over with pain, they were directed directly at the white Toa whose hand he held._

"_...just wanted to say sorry I'm so weak."_

The Matoran blinked, unable to say anything as the memory faded away, and he could see again. Kopaka merely sighed and looked away again. "You and I are a lot alike, Kano." he said quietly. "We both never appreciated how much our brothers meant to us. We both lost them. And neither of us were able to save them."

Kano stood up, the anger returning. "There's a difference between me and you, Turaga," he snapped. "And that's the fact that I'm willing to try. And I'm gonna do more than try - I'm going to get my brother back!" And he turned and ran, ignoring Kopaka's shocked eyes that followed him out.

There was only one being that could help him now, of that he had no doubt. Toa Kazoku, while retaining the ability to see spirits, was incapacitated. None of the Turaga had the power necessary to deal with this situation. No, it was a Toa he needed. Even one who was dead would be good enough.

He went into Lito's room, doing his best to ignore the dark stain on the pillow, and sat down on the bed and closed his eyes. A moment was spent trying to remember the tune, and then he began to sing.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...ahhhhh..."_

Was it just him, or was the air suddenly warmer?

He sang it again, this time willing with all his might for the green Toa to appear. _I may not be able to see spirits the way Lito can,_ he thought, _but please, please, PLEASE help me! Toa Lewa, please!_

"_One has only to ask."_ a voice said, and Kano opened his eyes. The green Toa from his dreams was there, in front of him, hovering a few feet off the ground, no part of him stirring except his wings, which were rustling gently. He gave the Matoran a sad smile. _"You're looking for your brother, aren't you?"_

Kano swallowed. "I am." he managed to say.

Lewa shook his head. _"It's too late."_ he said. _"I told him if he slept he wouldn't wake up...but he slept. It's too late."_

The anger flared up for the third time, and Kano saw red. "I don't care if it's too late!" he shouted, making Lewa flinch. "And how do you know it's too late? You'll never know till you try, that's what Turaga Kopaka always said, and even HE won't help me!" He put his head in his hands, feeling the grief that had been gnawing at him ever since his dream begin to catch up to him now. "And Toa Kazoku can't help because she's unconscious...no one else on this stupid island can help me except YOU! You have to help me...please..."

Lewa was silent for a moment, watching as Kano sobbed and grabbed at him, only to merely pass through him. Ghosts were intangible, after all. "He's all I've got!" Kano cried. "If I lose him, I don't know what I'll do!" He glared at Lewa through teary eyes. "You know what it's like to be alone and have no one that loves you," he accused. "I know what it feels like too, OK? I never want to feel that way, ever again! So why won't you HELP me?!"

He was babbling again, and he knew it. He was just so scared, he couldn't help doing it. If he lost Lito, he would die. And he was willing to take any risk to get him back.

"_...close your eyes."_ Lewa said finally.

"What?" Kano's head came up, and he stared at the Toa of Air quizzically.

"_I said, close your eyes."_ Lewa repeated. _"I'll help you find your brother...but I doubt you'll reach him in time. We will have to hurry. Close your eyes and lay down on your side...put your head on the pillow, and sleep. That's the way Lito sleeps, curled up into a ball, just like that. Sleep."_

"How will sleeping help me find Lito?"

"_It's where he's been taken, into dreams, where the spirit that was hurting Kazoku can take his eyes. That's what it wants, you know."_

"Why should his eyes matter?" Kano asked, shivering as he put his down on the pillow, but he forced himself to keep going. "They're just eyes."

"_Not just eyes. He can see spirits...so can you, to an extent. Your gift is not as developed as Lito's is, and it's taking up all I have to make contact with you, but you CAN see spirits...you just have to watch for them. And with those eyes, the spirit would be able to take physical form. And then..."_

"And right now there's nobody who can protect Metru Nui," Kano whispered. "Great Spirits..."

"_Yes."_ Lewa said. _"Now, go to sleep. The sooner you do, the sooner we can find Lito."_

Kano forced his pounding heart to calm, and his whirring mind to slow down. He imagined warmth, and the feeling of being exhausted but happy after a long day's work. Memories skated across his mind as he began to fall asleep, memories of his mother coming in to tuck him into bed, and singing to him in a soft voice.

"_La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la..."_

Was that his mother's voice singing? Or was it Lewa's? He couldn't tell, and he was too sleepy to try to figure it out. A second later, he was in a dead sleep in Lito's bed.

Lewa touched his hand gently to the sleeping Matoran's forehead, still singing softly. A gasp from behind him made him look up, and he turned around, still touching Kano's head. The white figure that stood in the doorway was very familiar to him, although the last time he'd seen him, he was taller, and a thousand years younger. He'd had a double-bladed sword and a shield, not a staff. And his eyes had been cold, hard, unfeeling. Heartless.

"Lewa..." Kopaka breathed, eyes wide.

Lewa nodded to him, smiling sadly. _"Hello, big brother."_

The Turaga took a step forward, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "Lewa...what...?"

"_Kano is a strong boy."_ the Toa of Air said lightly. _"He's gone to search for his brother, despite all I said to dissuade him."_

Kopaka wiped his eyes with one hand, but still the tears fell. He smiled painfully. "It's been a while."

Lewa swallowed the lump that had come to his throat. _"It has."_ Neither said anything more, and he turned back to Kano. He had just prepared to go in as well when Kopaka spoke again.

"Lewa...I know I never said this before but..."

"_Yes?"_ the Air Toa asked, not turning around.

"...I'm sorry."

He did turn now, eyes wide with shock. Kopaka was staring at him, despite the sobs that racked his body, and Lewa felt tears coming to his own eyes even as he smiled. _"...don't mention it."_

And with a flash of green light, both he and Kano were gone, leaving Turaga Kopaka alone.

X x X

"_I'm gone now, and there I'll stay   
I doubt anyone knows I've gone away   
He won't come to save me, and you know why?   
Because he knows that I'm going to die."_

X x X

**AN: A much shorter time to update, eh? Heheh. Climax is coming soon, yay!**

**Review, please!**


	7. Vermilion

**HOLY CRAP IT'S BEEN A WHILE. Feel free to kill me any time now! I am guilty as charged with laziness and loss of plot bunnies, so I probably deserve it, too. Haha.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow.**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

_**(well gee, it freaking TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!)**_

**(I don't HAVE to have you beta me, you know.)**

**Hush Little Baby  
By: Saya Moonshadow  
Beta: Zanda Waffle 07**

"_I want to go home...  
I want to go home...  
But home is nowhere in sight."_

X x X

Kano was traveling and seeing things he had never seen before, only snatches of them coming to him as he flew through the seemingly endless vortex. He could see things he recognized as being called Bohrok, for they had the empty shell of one on display in the Archives, and a furious Rahkshi, swinging its staff at a helpless Matoran with red coloring and a yellow mask. There was a black Toa he recognized as being Turaga Onua's Toa form, holding out a hand and speaking calmly to...no one.

He could see a gravestone marked with the name Orkahm, and a green hand sliding down the stone's face, coming to rest in the grass that surrounded it. He could see a proud green Toa with a Mask of Stealth, floating in a sea of endless black and glaring at him. He could see the green Toa's mouth moving, and could hear him shouting, _"He's given you another chance! You should be grateful, Toa-child!"_

And then Turaga Kopaka, back as a Toa again, with his hand on the doorknob of a white room, glancing back and there was no emotion in those cold blue eyes. _"He's safe. There's nothing to worry about."_ And then Turaga - no, Toa - Pohatu was jumping up and grabbing him and shouting at him.

At the next scene, Kano tried to slow his pace somewhat, for what it detailed was something he never thought he would see other than in his dream of before. Toa Kopaka, bent over the green form of another Toa without a heart light, and Toa Kopaka was crying. Deep, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking sobs, punctuated by a scream of agony as he begged the other Toa to come back.

"_Please...please..."_

But Kano's pace could not be slowed, and soon that scene too had gone, and he was still going deeper and deeper into the darkness.

X x X

Lito awoke, cold and hungry, but most of all, scared. His eyes ached abominably. He wasn't in his room anymore, and he wanted Kano. Kano would make it all better. Kano would chase the bad things away. In his eyes, Kano was indestructible.

He waited a few moments for his brother to pop out and laugh with him about the joke he had played, and then to pick him up and take him home, but Kano didn't come. There was no one there except for himself and the doll that Kano had beheaded, somehow whole again.

Crying was only for wimps, Kano had told him many a time, but despite this, Lito couldn't help but start crying. It was so dark, and his eyes hurt so much. And not even the nice green ghost that he had met was around to tell him that it would be OK.

"_Oh please, do shut up. Your crying is so annoying."_

With a gulp, Lito paused in his tears, sitting bolt upright and head whirling around in all directions, trying to see who had just spoken. That didn't sound like Kano at all. Or the ghost. Was someone else there?

"_That's better,"_ the voice said, and suddenly, his doll stood up.

Lito stared at it, eyes wide, even as they continued to sting and tears continued to fall. His toy was talking, and more than that, it was _walking_. No matter how much he wished they would, toys weren't supposed to do that kind of stuff.

"A-am I dreaming?" he asked timidly, and the Kikanalo doll smirked.

"_I suppose so...yes, in a way. But this isn't something you can just wake up from, Lito. This is where I come from. Isn't it nice?"_

"There's nothing to see..." the child murmured, and the doll snickered.

"_Exactly. There's just pure darkness, and it's all mine. Everything in this place is mine to control as I will. Including you."_

"Kano said no one could control me if I don't want them to," Lito said defiantly.

The Kikanalo doll's eyes glinted. _"Oh indeed he was right on some scales. But I don't want to control you, Lito. I don't want anything to do with you, in fact. But, I DO need one thing from you."_

Lito blinked. "W-what's that?"

He was bowled over by a flash of darkness the next instant, and the burning in his eyes doubled, making him scream.

"_Your EYES!"_

X x X

At the sound of his brother's voice screaming in pain, Kano increased his speed, shouting, "LITO!" He could not see the child in this vortex, but he could hear him, and it was killing him. That scream was so...

"_Kano, take my hand!"_

"Huh?" He looked up at Toa Lewa, who was holding a hand out to him. "W-what d'you--"

"_There's no time! Just take my hand, NOW!"_

Without another thought, he reached out for the green spirit's hand and grasped it. It was tangible now, and its grip was so strong that it was almost painful, as it tightened around his and tugged him along into the next scene to start playing.

He landed painfully, scraping his knees and falling flat on his face as Lewa drifted down in front of him, already scanning the area. This place was different from the dark tunnel they had just left. It had a floor, for one thing, and for this Kano was grateful. But the floor was lined with glowing streaks of red, which he found even more disconcerting. Those red lines reminded him all too much of veins.

And perhaps they WERE veins, for he had no idea where he was.

He looked at Lewa, whose gaze was now focused elsewhere. "W-where are we?"

"_Where that thing took your brother,"_ Lewa answered. _"This is its home."_

"Does it have a name?"

Lewa shook his head. _"None that I know of. It's not a place for our kind, we don't belong here. It's not even supposed to exist, but it does."_

Kano frowned. "So what are we going to do? How did this place get here if it's not supposed to exist, as you said?"

The Toa of Air hesitated. He chewed on his lower lip, obviously thinking fast, before answering. _"Imagine being so filled with malevolence at your own death that you'll do anything to return. It doesn't matter what you have to do or who you have to kill, you'll do it all if it means you can pick up where you left off. If coming back meant you had to sacrifice someone you cared about, then you would. That's what we're up against right now, Kano. Something who so desperately wants to return to life that it is willing to take the eyes of someone else to accomplish its goal."_

The Matoran's eyes widened, but Lewa continued. _"Our bodies are made so that in times of need, we can combine them with others. Once, years ago, I and my teammates did it to save our island from Makuta Teridax. Other species are capable of it too. But one thing that was not meant to be shared is our eyes. Our eyes are our own, and cannot be shared. To take the eyes of someone else is to curse yourself. In the old days, it was considered so bad a crime that it was an instant one-way ticket to the Pit._

"_With Lito's eyes, the eyes of a living being, and moreover, the eyes of a living being that can see the supernatural as if it were real, that spirit will become stronger than it was before its first death. Lito's eyes can cross barriers, and with them, that spirit would be able to as well. If ever you doubted that evil still existed in this world, that doubt should be gone by now."_

Kano was silent, and Lewa knew he was thinking about what he had just said. Good. If there was one thing he had always hated about himself when he had been alive, it was his seeming inability to think. It had landed him in so many dangerous situations before, it was a wonder he hadn't died before the sickness that took his life had come along.

"I...I understand that this is dangerous, Toa Lewa..." Kano said softy, and Lewa looked at him. The Matoran took a deep, shuddering breath, but continued. "But...I can't just give up. You don't understand...Lito...Lito NEEDS me. Really needs me. And I..." He shuddered harder. "I need him even more than he needs me. He's my brother, and I promised that I'd be there for him. I can't just LEAVE him...you get that, right?"

"_..."_ Lewa did not respond to this immediately, but instead bent his head and laughed lightly. _"What I wouldn't have given to have had a brother like you...well spoken, little Kano."_ he smiled and touched Kano's mask gently. His fingers were rough and calloused, and warmth radiated from them, oddly comfortingly.

He pulled away and smiled winningly at him. Perhaps Kopaka hadn't been exactly what he had needed, but after over a thousand long years, the pain was finally starting to ease. It had started when Lito had first begun to speak to him, and Kopaka's apology soothed it more than any amount of medicine ever could. He closed his eyes, smile remaining on his face.

That smile was more real than any that he had ever given while he was still alive, and he loved the feeling of being able to smile for real. Kopaka cared about him. Kopaka was sorry for what he had done. Kopaka was now truly acting like his older brother.

"_I'll tell you one thing those who are evil don't have in them though, Kano,"_ he said. _"And that's love. Yeah, it's cliché, but it's true. Love saves. It could've saved me. It was what allowed me to save Kopaka's life a few months before I died. Even Teridax had some love in him, for his Rahkshi. And you have a lot of it in you. Whatever happens, don't forget that."_

Kano nodded slowly. As a child and, moreover, a boy, the idea of love did not appeal to him that much. But he knew that he loved. He loved Lito, his little brother. He loved Turaga Kopaka, the closest thing to a father he would ever have in his life. He loved Toa Kazoku, the one he admired the most, the one he aspired to be like someday. And he loved himself.

He reached out and took Lewa's hand, squeezing it hard. "I know. And now I'm gonna go save my brother!"

He took off running in the direction Lewa had been staring off into, dragging the Toa of Air behind him. He was unaware of the fact that he was growing, his height suddenly increasing rapidly, his arms and legs lengthening, and his mask beginning to glow and change as well. He was unaware of the scythe that materialized, strapped to his back, and he was unaware of the sudden light that his eyes had taken on.

But Lewa wasn't. Lewa saw all this and watched, and he knew just then that, without a doubt, things were going to be alright.

_Love is indeed a powerful force, little Kano...look at what it's done to you._

X x X

"_I want to go home...  
I want to go home...  
I WANT TO GO HOME!"_

X x X

**AN: Well, that only took about half a year (most likely more)! Seriously, though, I'm terribly sorry for the long wait. I just wasn't feeling this story anymore, but I've gotten my muses back for a while, so here I am. Writing again. Not to mention I started this story for Halloween last year, and Halloween is once again almost upon us. I'm kindasortayeah late. Ahaha.**

**Anyway, review me, please!**


	8. Awake and Alive

**Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's been over a year, AGAIN. Saya, you **_**ass**_**. You said you'd do crap on time and stuff!**

**Yeah, yeah, I know, I've been plot bunny-less for this one here. As **_**Kaihlo**_** pointed out, my muse for this one is kind of all over the place and also happens to be an expert at hide-and-go-seek. Which sucks, because I actually like this fic, but had like no idea what to do with it for the longest time. Anyway, please read if you're still interested.**

**But before you go on - I tried to incorporate SOME of the actual canon into this story, particularly with Kopaka's account of how Teridax died. But, since this was started three years before the Mata Nui vs. Teridax arc, it is still set in Metru Nui. As usual, I'm sorry for the inaccuracy, but what can ya do?**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you don't recognize as canon belongs to me. "Rosemary's Baby" belongs to Fantômas. The lyrics belong to me, **_**Saya Moonshadow.**_

**Summary: Some, but not all, ghosts are laid to rest. Sequel to **_**Dirty Window**_**. Somewhat sickfic.**

**Hush Little Baby  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

"_In this nightmare to save his soul  
He has to become a greater whole  
But try as he might, he may not win  
The dark thing begins to drag him in."_

* * *

Pain, pain, oh Spirits, the pain! Lito was screaming, or wasn't he? He didn't know anymore, but his throat felt raw and he was pretty sure he was still screaming.

He had been horrified by what had happened to Toa Kazoku's eyes, and now he was going through the same thing, he knew. His vision was going white, fading faster as each second ticked by. Tears dripped down his face, but they felt too heavy to be actual tears.

Please, don't let it be blood like Toa Kazoku's...

Where, where, where was Kano? He needed him so badly, Kano said he'd always protect him, but he wasn't here. Of course he wasn't, this was Lito's mind and Lito's dream. Kano didn't have the ability to go into dreams...

It hurt too much to think anymore...

But something in the child caused him to fight back, to rebel. He thrashed and screamed louder, trying to tear away from the crushing weight of what was once his favorite toy, trying to make it stop hurting him. If only it didn't hurt so much, then he'd be able to do it, he knew. Did this mean he was weak?

Toa Kazoku hadn't been able to fight back, so why should he? After all, she was a Toa, and he was just one small, young Matoran.

No one was coming for him, he knew. No one would come to save him. He was all alone, and it seemed Lewa's words about him never opening his eyes again were about to come true.

* * *

A sudden sense of danger forced Kazoku painfully back into consciousness, and she groaned as a headache immediately set in. Ignoring the shocked yelp of the guard in the room with her, she sat up, rubbing at her eyes. To her surprise, they didn't hurt anymore, although they were still a little bleary.

Groggily, she looked around, finally spotting the guard. "You there, what...what happened to me?"

"A-ah..." he stammered, "you - you were in pain, Toa. But Turaga Kopaka and those two kids, they did something that saved you."

Kazoku frowned, and it only deepened when her eyes wandered from his face to the rest of the room. There was a dark red stain on the floor across from the bed she was lying in, and she tensed immediately, the sense of danger that had woken her coming back. "Where are they now?"

The guard shrugged, shivering at the intensity of her gaze. "I-I-I don't know, Toa. I a-assume they're all at home, it IS rather late at night..."

He yelped again as the Fire Toa threw the bed sheet off of herself and swung her legs to the floor, swaying a bit as she got up. "Ah - w-wait, you're n-not supposed to get up yet!"

"Got better stuff t'do than wait around here," Kazoku grunted as she brushed past him. "And if anyone asks, tell 'em it's my own fault for leaving. I got a couple kids to find."

The guard smiled, relieved, though he really knew nothing of the situation. When she had collapsed the day before, an island-wide panic had swept through the Metrus. Without Kazoku, they were defenseless. She was, after all, their only current Toa, besides being a much-loved figure throughout the island. Seeing her up and slipping back into her hero duties so soon after the incident that had left her crippled and screaming in agony was heartening.

"I-I will!" he muttered as her violet form disappeared.

* * *

Kano and Lito's home was a small branch-off of a much larger building, a boarding house of sorts, which was always somewhat inconvenient for them, being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Metru life, but right at that moment, incredibly convenient for Kazoku. Her firesword was gone, but she had a fair idea of where it might be. And even if she was wrong, she had enough experience with other weapons that borrowing one wouldn't be too big of an issue.

Flames crackling in her left hand lit the way as she strode through the dark streets, all the way up to Turaga Kopaka's observatory. Eccentric old coot or no, he was still her uncle and had saved her eyesight, and she owed it to him to report in immediately. And, unless she missed her guess, he had her sword. Rather than allow her to impale herself on it in case she thrashed about some more, he had taken it. A nice gesture, but couldn't he have just left it in her sick room or something?

As she expected, he was right where he always was - in the big chair connected to the great telescope. Though, instead of working, he was looking down at something clutched in his hands. It was a photograph, she realized, but chose not to comment on it as she threw the doors open and greeted him with, "Uncle!"

Kopaka started with shock, almost falling from his chair, and Kazoku rushed over instantly to grab him before he crashed to the ground. "K-Kazoku!" he said, clutching at his racing heart, "What are you doing up? You should still be in the sickbay!"

The Fire Toa snorted. "Not a chance, not while there's danger around like that." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, taking in his countenance. Kopaka was excellent at hiding his emotions from the rest of the world, but she was a special case. No matter how much he pretended to be OK with and ignored the death of his younger brother, she knew how much it still hurt him on a daily basis.

But...that pain was gone now, and for the first time in her entire thousand years of life, he looked serene. The internal storm that had plagued him for as long as she could remember was simply gone.

He smiled at her then, shocking her further. "It's alright. They've gone to save him."

She frowned. "Who's gone to save who?"

He looked back at the photograph, which was old and slightly crumpled. It was the picture of him and the rest of his team, she realized, the one she had tried to knock off the wall of his hut as a child. The one with the message written on the back that had made him cry. "My little brother and Kano have gone to save Lito. And I apologized, child. And Lewa accepted my apology."

Though she was happy for that, it didn't stop her anger from flaring up. "Where are they?!"

He shook his head. "In the realm of dreams, child."

"And you just LET them go alone?!" she cried. "That's the same thing that attacked me, right? How could you let them go ALONE?! If _I_ couldn't handle that thing, what on Metru Nui makes you think they can?!"

"Because," he said simply, "they can, and they will." He didn't flinch as she grabbed his arm, causing the photograph to flutter to the floor.

"We're going after them," she snapped. "Honestly, and you call yourself smart? But first..." Aha, there it was, her trusty sword! Picking it up off the telescope's control console, she sighed as she felt that old surge of power go through her, and strapped it to her back where it belonged.

She dragged her uncle bodily from the room, finally lifting him up and slinging him over her back, ignoring his grunts of discomfort as he tried to keep her un-ignited firesword from poking him in the face.

* * *

The gift of second sight was an odd one indeed, and some might say it was not a gift at all but rather a curse. Kazoku herself had cursed it many times herself when a wayward spirit had decided to follow her around for a century, early into her days as the island's resident Toa. That had been just after her parents and their team had been demoted to Turaga. Though the spirit had finally found peace and moved on to the next realm, it had been an exhausting century with it hovering about her, talking her ear off.

But it ultimately was the thing that had allowed her to learn patience, a trait she found on a daily basis to be necessary. As the island's sole protector, it was needed to keep her from going insane from all the work she had to do.

Right now, the spirit world was in chaos, she knew. The disembodied cries and howls from all around her could mean only that. She had never seen so many out at once, especially not with her auric barrier in place...

"_Hurry, young one..."_ An orange shape floated in front of her for a moment, disintegrating and reforming instantly as she ran right through it.

"Tell me about this thing," she puffed as she ran for Kano and Lito's home. "How bad is it?"

"I couldn't tell you," Kopaka's voice came from over her left shoulder. "All I know is that it is very malevolent. Perhaps on the same level as Makuta Teridax, if I were to be honest."

"You don't think it's him, do you?" Their destination was coming up.

"No, I do not. Teridax's spirit would not be free to wander the world like this, even if it still existed. He was completely destroyed by the actions of our Great Spirit Mata Nui."

She scowled. Well, that was a relief, although it blew out her one actual suggestion. If she knew just what it was that she was up against, she could formulate a plan, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Apparently, she was just going to have to do as her father would have done: charge in, sword blazing, and send everything that got in her way to Karzahni.

Which was just fine with her. She relished the thought of getting revenge on the thing which had tortured her and was putting Kano and Lito in danger. It wouldn't be the first demonic being that her sword's almost holy flames would put a stop to.

Kazoku was a brave Toa and an experienced warrior, but even one as used to violence as she was had a hard time looking at the dark pool in Lito's bed. She knew what it was instantly, without her uncle having to tell her. "Blood," she muttered, scowling to hide the fact that she felt ill. "Lito's blood, unless I miss my guess."

The white Turaga nodded as he slipped from her grasp. "Yes. And from his eyes."

She blinked. "How on earth--"

"Think about it, Kazoku. The thing that took Lito was attempting to take your eyes. It stands to reason that it would try to do the same to Lito, does it not?"

"It does," she agreed grudgingly, fingering her sword's handle. "But why did it want my eyes in the first place? Usually, they're after my sword or my head." Her scowl deepened as she remembered the attempts by various assassins and collectors to take her on. Though like most Toa out there Kazoku had a certain bias against killing, in those situations it was almost always kill or be killed. She'd learned early on that there were some who she just had to kill, not only for her own protection, but for the protection of her people.

"That I cannot be sure of. However, perhaps our time would be better spent attempting to figure out how to go after them?"

"I..." A frown crossed the Toa of Fire's face as she realized for the first time that she actually didn't know how to enter the realm of dreams, as her uncle had put it. She'd been so set on saving the two Matoran that she'd completely forgotten that minor detail. "I don't know how."

Kopaka smiled. In this respect, she was just like her father: headstrong and so set upon her goal that the means were often not a problem. "Not knowing how never stopped you before, did it?"

"That's not the same!"

"Come now, Kazoku," Kopaka said tiredly. "Kano got through with the help of a spirit, and he is less spiritually aware than you. If he could find a spirit to help him, then someone like you, who usually has at least three of them in the general vicinity at any given time, should be able to do it as well."

That was right, he could see them too (although that was all he could do), she remembered. But that was only the power of his Akaku talking, not an actual spiritual awareness. No, the only one of his old team that had the ability to see spirits was her mother, from whom she had inherited the power.

But he had a point - if Kano had managed to summon a ghost to help him despite his handicap, then she could too.

She leaned down and gave her uncle a tight hug. "Right then. I'll report back to you when we come back."

Kopaka smiled at her. Everything would...be alright now. Even if he were to die right then and there, it wouldn't matter, because after a thousand long, lonely years, he had finally attained redemption.

He had apologized, and Lewa forgave him. More than anything else, it was the strangest sensation to realize that he was actually _happy_. And dazed by this happiness, perhaps, but happy nonetheless. And it was that happiness that opened his mind and allowed him to know that no matter what happened, things would be alright in the end.

* * *

Summoning a ghost was always a strange experience. Ordinarily, she couldn't get them to leave her alone, though she had managed to utilize the Great Mask of Shielding she wore to block her aura to the spirits, and theirs to her. Cruel perhaps, yes, but Kazoku had long ago tired of avoiding someone on the street or answering a question only to realize that no one else could see or hear the person she was seeing. And besides, it bothered her to know that she couldn't help them. Hero though she was, she couldn't make them move on. That was something they had to achieve on their own.

For the first time in years, she lowered the auric barrier that she had placed around herself, allowing her to be seen by the spirits. Almost instantly, dozens of them surrounded her, and she jumped, startled. Lito could see ghosts as well, she had deduced from recent events, but she hadn't realized just how strong of an aura he must have to attract this many to his living space at any given time. He had never said anything, either. No, the first time she had ever heard about it was when Kano had come to her to tell her that the little Le-Matoran was seeing things.

A great many things, Kazoku realized.

Instinctively, she searched for one she might know. Though these were all friendly as far as she could tell, a familiar being was more likely to give her the assistance she needed without too much difficulty.

But...no, she didn't recognize any of these. Curses! All the ones she'd known must have moved on by now.

Finally, one of them approached her, a timid look on its face. _"Wh-where did you come from?"_

Kazoku looked it up and down, satisfied. It was a Ga-Matoran child, which made sense considering that Lito was also a child. Surely he would attract the spirits of those that could relate to him the most. "My name is Kazoku, and I come from Ta-Metru. I need some help." she said, smiling gently to reassure the little Ga-Matoran. "Can you help me?"

The Ga-Matoran girl nodded, a nervous look on her mask. _"Wh-what d'you need help with, Toa?"_

"Can you help me find the realm of dreams? My...my charges are in there, and I must rescue them."

The little girl whimpered, swishing from side to side in distress. _"Th-the monster has them,"_ she murmured. _"I'm s-scared of..."_

Kazoku reached for her, and tentatively, she reached back. Though neither could truly feel the other, not on this plane of reality, both could experience some form of sensation: for Kazoku, a slight coldness where those tiny fingers touched her own, and for the little girl, a cheering warmth, one she could almost remember having a long, long time ago. "It's OK," the violet Toa said, and she felt her fear begin to subside a little. "I won't let it hurt you. I promise."

The Ga-Matoran child smiled, a timid expression, but it was with relief that Kazoku knew she had convinced her. _"O-OK. C-can you lay down a-and go t-to sleep?"_

Sleep? Ah, yes, that did make sense...if it was to the realm of dreams that she had to go, it was inevitable that sleep played a role as well.

Kazoku was only vaguely aware of Turaga Kopaka watching her as she slumped down onto the bed with forced disregard for the dark stain. But whatever was going through her uncle's head wasn't important right now, all that was important was the little green boy and his white brother, both of whom were counting on her and always had to save them from danger.

She laid her head down, and with the discipline that comes naturally to most Toa, forced herself into sleep. The Ga-Matoran child sighed and floated carefully above the violet Toa's head, then, with a shy smile at the white Turaga in the doorway, sank straight into her new friend's body. As Kopaka watched, Kazoku's form become paler, paler, paler, until she had vanished altogether.

A rather strange method of dragging one into the spirit world, but it seemed to have worked. He sighed. Thoughts of going with them, of regaining the form he always had in his dreams - that of a Toa - dashed through his mind, but he knew he couldn't do it. This had ceased to be his story a long time ago, and he wasn't about to ruin it for the ones it belonged to.

And who knew, despite Kazoku's doubts of being able to cause a ghost to rest in peace, this might just be what that little Ga-Matoran needed to move on as well.

Perhaps saving Lito would allow Lewa to move on. With that thought firmly in his head, Kopaka took one last look at the empty bed and left the room.

* * *

"_We're getting close!"_ Lewa shouted. _"Just a little bit farther!"_

On legs that suddenly seemed far too long, Kano continued to run as though his life depended on it. Not his life, no, but his brother's life at the very least. He would not allow anything to take his brother away from him.

A shimmering red wall rose up before him, they were going to crash into it--

He yelped, trying to come to a stop, but Lewa grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him forward, shoving something something long and metal into his hands. It was a scythe, but it was also much longer than he should have been able to hold comfortably. For the first time since he'd started going, Kano looked down at himself, and shock flooded his brain.

"Wha-what's happened to me?!"

"_Doesn't matter!"_ Lewa snapped, still propelling him forward despite his best efforts to stop. _"When I tell you to, I want you to power-swing that scythe, OK? OK?"_

"But--"

"_Kano!"_ the Air Toa shouted, all too soon. _"Swing!"_

Red was rushing up to meet him, and out of pure reflex, Kano swung. To his surprise, it wasn't just the scythe that met the red wall - it was ice as well, ice encrusting it and making it brittle to the point that when he slammed into it a second later, it shattered.

For a moment, his world was falling red shards, but Lewa forced him to move forward again, pushing him out of the way. He finally skidded to a stop, the scythe blade coming to rest on the dark floor veined with more red as he stared ahead at the spectacle before him.

_Lito!_

Like most Ko-Matoran, Kano had been born with an inherent sense of Duty; it was his tribe's Asset, after all. But beyond that, there was the ability to turn a strange situation into something useful, and somewhere in his frazzled mind he was able to realize that he could put this newfound power (and the scythe that came with it) to excellent use.

Particularly when there was a large, dark _something_ about to engulf his younger brother right in front of him.

* * *

Lito was still screaming in pain when suddenly, he was bowled over by what seemed to be a great, cold blast of wind. He rolled helplessly, crying out with fear, but still able to realize that the pain in his eyes was beginning to subside a bit. Enough for him to open them, anyway, and when he did, a shock met the yellow irises.

Through streaming tears that made his vision blurry, he was able to recognize the green ghost that, along with the usual multitude of others he had learned to ignore, had been his constant companion for some time now, as well as a familiar, yet unfamiliar, white thing.

This white thing was a Toa just like Lewa was, he knew, although it was shorter than Lewa, obviously young. It also lacked the silver armor of the ghostly Toa Nuva, instead resembling what any older Metru Nui resident could have told him was a Toa Mata. But the lack of armor didn't make this younger Toa any less intimidating, especially not with that scythe in its hands. It was only when it spoke that Lito was finally able to identify it.

"Get away from him!" Kano snarled, his scythe pointed at the shuddering form of what looked like an innocent stuffed Kikanalo doll. But no regular stuffed doll leaked red and shadows from a cut like that, and both brothers shuddered when it staggered upwards, red eyes blazing with rage.

"_Interrupting me, little Toa?"_ it snarled, and Lito scurried away from it, unable to keep the sobs from escaping his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lewa moving towards him, a sword in one hand as well. _"That is unwise,"_ the Kikanalo doll went on. _"This is my realm here, child."_

Kano snorted. "I don't care whose realm it is," he retorted, his voice older and stronger than Lito had ever heard it. "You're not going to take his, or anyone else's, eyes. Not while I'm around."

The Kikanalo doll smiled horribly. _"And how IS that weak purple woman? She is hardly fit to be called a Toa, with the way she screamed and thrashed when I had her in my grip."_

"Don't--" The red veins in the dark floor pulsed almost painfully as the scythe blade crashed down. "Don't talk about her like that!"

It was foolish to talk with it like this, he knew, but he didn't care. He couldn't let it talk about Toa Kazoku like that, not when she was the only true guardian he had ever known, the only one he could honestly say he looked up to. If that little monster had known HALF the things he'd seen her go through--

"_Kano!"_ Lewa snapped, and the newly anointed Ice Toa was relieved to see that his guide had reached Lito and was now dragging him away from the dark thing they were facing, _"Don't let it get under your armor like that! Just kill it!"_

The dark thing's eyes glinted coldly. Victory had, for the second time, been ripped from its grasp just before it could attain it. _"Foolish child,"_ it snarled, and before his very eyes, it began to transform.

"_Killing me will not be so easy!"_

* * *

"_Lose or win, win or lose  
We are those who must choose.  
Though brave he might be, brave and bold  
I feel nothing now but endless cold."_

* * *

**AN: It was suggested to me by my brother that I bring Kazoku in again, because having her be too weak to help fight the monster would kind of defeat her purpose as the island's protector. As well as be somewhat degrading to her as a character in general. So, despite my original plan of keeping her comatose a while longer, she has made a reappearance, though slightly the worse for wear. And some more description on spiritual awareness as well, since up until now I've been keeping it kind of vague. Truthfully, that was mostly because I wasn't too sure how to go about really portraying it, but now I have down the basic idea of everything.**

**And yes, Kano is a Toa, albeit a rather inexperienced one. Ever since his creation for the epilogue of **_**Dirty Window**_**, I had planned on him somehow becoming a Toa in the future, and I'm glad this fic presented a way for him to do so without it sounding totally lame. I hope, anyway.**

**Posted in the middle of my break because I'm sick of this thing just sitting here on my hard drive and staring me in the face. But now I'm going back to that break of mine, so see you all in a couple days.  
**

**Review, please!**


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